Proposed Rule on Title II of HEOA

Proposed Rule on Title II of HEOA, Section 502(c)

March 16, 2009

The Department will issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for Section 205(c) of reauthorized Title II of HEOA (Public Law 110-315, Sections 205-208). A regulation based on this section is identified as necessary to accomplish Department objectives to provide an accurate and complete information collection and database to meet the requirements of Title II of HEOA. According to Title II, section 205 (c), the Secretary is to prescribe regulations on data quality that ensure the reliability, validity, integrity, and accuracy of the data submitted by the Title II, HEOA Accountability Reporting System (Title II, HEOA, Section 205(c)) as follows:.

DATA QUALITY.—The Secretary shall prescribe regulations

to ensure the reliability, validity, integrity, and accuracy of the

data submitted pursuant to this section.

HEOA reauthorization made a number of changes in the Title II annual report requirements for states and IHEs, and the reporting forms and instructions in the User Manual have been revised to reflect those changes. The reporting forms and instructions are being submitted for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance on a regular schedule. The data collection using the revised forms is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2009 and be reported to the Department in October of 2010. To obtain OMB approval for the reporting forms and instructions in a timely manner for the data collection, it is necessary to submit the package soon. If this request to develop a regulation for 205(c) is approved, we also request your approval to submit the OMB package of Title II revised materials with simply placeholder documentation for the regulation. In that case, Title II will proceed with the two clearance processes, OMB for revised report forms and instructions and Office of General Counsel’s Division of Regulatory Services for the regulation.